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Telecom sandbox explained: how India's new rules let firms test 6G and AI services on real users
The Centre has notified the Telecommunications (Regulatory Sandbox) Rules, 2026. What a sandbox is, who can apply, what users are promised, and how the rules have changed since the idea was first floated.
The short answer
A regulatory sandbox is a live testing space in which a company can try a new telecom product, service or business model on a limited group of real users, for a fixed period, while being exempted from some legal rules. Section 27 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 allows the Centre to create such sandboxes, and the 2026 rules notified on 22 October set the terms: trials of 24 months, extendable in 12-month steps, a ₹10,000 fee, written consent from users, no charges to them and no commercial sale during the test.
What has the government notified?
The Telecommunications (Regulatory Sandbox) Rules, 2026, which set out how companies and researchers can test new telecom technology on real people before it goes on sale.
The Centre notified the rules on Thursday, 22 October. They let participants try new technologies, services and business models in a controlled real-world setting, with exemptions from specified parts of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, for as long as the trial lasts. Sixth-generation mobile networks (6G) and advanced artificial intelligence are among the kinds of technology the government expects to see tested.
What exactly is a regulatory sandbox?
A fenced-off space where the normal rules are relaxed so that something new can be tried safely, on a small scale and for a limited time.
The Telecommunications Act, 2023 gives the idea a legal footing. Its Section 27 allows the Centre to create one or more sandboxes to encourage innovation in telecom, and describes a sandbox as “a live testing environment where new products, services, processes and business models” can be deployed on a limited set of users for a set period, with some exemptions from the Act.
The thinking is simple. Many telecom rules were written for services that already exist. A product that does not fit them neatly can be stuck between the laboratory and the market. A sandbox lets a regulator watch it work before deciding how it should be governed.
Who can apply, and how?
Startups, large companies, researchers and scientists, through a government digital portal.
Applicants must attach the reports of the laboratory tests they have already carried out and list the rules from which they want to be exempted. There is a non-refundable processing fee of ₹10,000. The government decides whether to approve a trial.
The 2026 sandbox rules at a glance
- 24 monthslength of an approved trial, extendable in 12-month steps
- ₹10,000non-refundable processing fee for an application
- ₹0what a user can be charged during a trial
- 1 yearminimum period for keeping trial data and consent records after testing ends
How long can a trial run?
For 24 months at first, with extensions of 12 months at a time.
A request for more time must be filed at least 30 days before the current period ends. That is longer than the regulator first suggested. When TRAI recommended a sandbox framework for the digital communication sector in April 2024, it proposed permission for up to 12 months of testing, which could be extended or cut short if needed.
What protection do users get?
They must be told they are part of a test, they must agree in writing, and they cannot be charged.
Participants have to inform users that the product is under trial and take their written consent. No money can be collected from anyone taking part, and the product cannot be sold commercially while the trial is on. When testing ends, companies must keep their data, work plan and users’ consent records for at least a year, so that the trial can be examined afterwards.
Is this the first telecom sandbox?
No. The idea has been through several versions.
In March 2024 the Department of Telecommunications issued guidelines for a spectrum sandbox, called WiTe Zone, for experiments with radio frequencies, but it did not allow connection to live networks. TRAI’s recommendations followed in April 2024. In November 2024 a first set of Telecommunications (Regulatory Sandbox) Rules was issued, with a 24-month validity that could be extended by up to 12 months. That version set up a Governance Committee to monitor each sandbox, and allowed the Centre, on the committee’s advice, to suspend or revoke approval if an applicant gave false information, broke the conditions of approval, or on grounds of national security or public interest. How far the 2026 rules keep that oversight structure has not yet been widely reported.
What happens next?
The test will be whether companies use it.
The rules open the door, but the value of a sandbox depends on what comes out of it: products that reach the market, and rules that are rewritten because a trial showed they needed changing. The government has not said how many applications it expects or how quickly it will decide them. As of October 2026 the portal and the first approvals are the next things to watch.